Item clipped by Roger Thornhillfrom the Police Log of the Mill Valley Herald about an incident on Redwood Highway Frontage Road. "The drivers of a BMW and an Aston Martin were seemingly involved in an accident but both drivers were missing."

The picture: First driver gets out, examines the dents, thinks for a bit and then proclaims, "I was on hold for five minutes getting that restaurant reservation." Second driver: "And I'm late for my yoga class."

Then they both walk away.

In the highly competitive world of publishing, an author's got to use every angle possible to sell the book. A self-published book, as described in a press release for "Beyond the Power of Love: A Woman's Journey Through Betrayal of Religion and Spousal Abuse": "Author Janice Romney, a cousin of former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, has penned the true, harrowing account of how domestic violence impacted her life."

-- At a new antiques-thrift store on Castro Street, Scott Waltonoverheard a woman stop by and ask the price of the "perfect little patio chairs outside." They weren't for sale, the owners said; they were for sitting. The woman expressed disappointment, and said she wished she knew where she could find some. Home Depot, said the antique vendors.

-- Lucy Johnssaw the sign in the window of a Ferndale (Humboldt County) shop: "Due to recent cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off." And a sign spotted on a telephone pole at Columbus and Broadway in North Beach by Tom Bonk: "Fear Not, Baby Boomers. I will teach you iPhone V."

-- In the Tower mini-store at the de Young Museum one day last week, abstract expressionist Manuel Neri purchased a book of drawings by Paul Madonna, whose "All Over Coffee" appears in The Chronicle on Sundays. Neri said he looked forward to seeing Madonna's drawings every Sunday.

About an hour later, said store sales associate Jane Cleveland, she was at the museum's lower level store when she spotted Madonna, quietly signing books. She told him that Neri was a fan. "Mr. Madonna and I were separately very pleased and gratified," she e-mails, "in this exchange of information."

-- And as to meter enforcers ticketing unexpired meters on Clement Street, my pal Lance Greenfield, retired parking officer, says that sometimes the side that faces the street (which would be seen by the officer) doesn't jibe with the side that faces the sidewalk (which would be seen by a passer-by). This may explain premature expiration.

-- Hoping to save Adobe Books in the Mission, a band of book lovers and supporters is raising money - is.gd/nwo3S5 - to operate it as a collective. There's a week left to reach $60,000, the goal.

So you're plying your trade at the corner of Jones and Eddy and a cute guy driving by in an Oroweat delivery truck is waiting for the light to change. What's your best pickup line?

"Hey, baby," a woman of the streets yelled out at Steve Richman. "Want to break some bread?"

Correspondent Jok Church, one of the executive producers of the movie "Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton," was exulting in the recent news that the movie will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival next month.

Church says the project got its start when he met Stephen Silha(who would, with Eric Slade, co-direct the movie), when both were washing dishes at a gay cultural/educational event. Church, supervising the cleanup, had told the dish washing crew that since bleach was to be involved in the cleanup, participants should remove their clothes and wear aprons.

It's a great get-acquainted trick. Church and Silha fell into conversation and discovered they were both fans of Broughton and friends of Slade, and from that meeting, plans for the movie went forward.

Public Eavesdropping

"Dude, I think guys are allowed like one man crush."

Teenage boy to teenage boy, overheard on the M streetcar by Nigel Prance